Seduction: Shifters Forever Worlds, #2

By Elle Thorne

Astra Evans is a curvy, delicious firebrand who thinks that the only good shifter is a dead shifter.
With two exceptions, of course.

And Kane Ortiz is NOT one of those exceptions.
Kane's a mountain-sized grizzly bear shifter who wants one thing.
To avoid a group of shifters hunting him down.

Except he's got a problem. Astra. That damned, sexy, hottie with the curves that don't end.
Good luck, Kane. You're gonna need it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barbed Borders Press
• Release date: May 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393751809

Book preview

Seduction

Seduction

SHIFTERS FOREVER WORLDS

Elle Thorne

Barbed Borders Press

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Copyright © 2015, 2020 by Elle Thorne

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Contents

Seduction

Title Page

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Epilogue

Excerpt From Persuasion

Chapter 1

Afterword

The Shifters Forever Worlds

Shifter Realms

Sci-Fi Romance by Elle Thorne

Thank You So Much!

About Elle

Elle’s Newsletter

Seduction

Astra Evans is a curvy, delicious firebrand who thinks that the only good shifter is a dead shifter.

With two exceptions, of course.

And Kane Ortiz is NOT one of those exceptions.

Kane’s a mountain-sized grizzly bear shifter who wants one thing.

To avoid a group of shifters hunting him down.

Except he’s got a problem. Astra. That damned, sexy, hottie with the curves that don’t end.

Good luck, Kane. You’re gonna need it.

Visit www.ElleThorne.com to sign up for Elle’s newsletter!

Chapter One

Brrrrt... Brrrrt... Brrrt...

Astra ignored it. Wouldn’t even look at it. Nope. Not once. She’d promised herself tonight would be a night off. She shoved her hair away from her face, and thought again about cutting her long blonde locks. But there was no way she would do short hair. It didn’t suit her.

Maybe if she was a little bit smaller...

She bit back a laugh. She would never be a little bit smaller, and she loved her body just fine. By damn, she loved the curves she’d been blessed with.

Hell, yeah, curves were in!

Brrrrt... Brrrrt... Brrrt...

Astra stirred the pasta instead of looking at the phone. The stupid cell phone vibrated again. Though she couldn’t see it, and wouldn’t look at it, she could hear it, clattering loud against the wood of the table.

Wow. Someone is way too persistent.

She was looking forward to a night of spaghetti and a movie. She’d DVRed the movie last week and hadn’t had a chance to check it out yet. She’d spent the last few days helping ranchers and pet owners, being called to assist with problem deliveries, wounded animals. Not that she didn’t love her job. She did. She enjoyed training to be a vet. But she needed a minute off. Okay, maybe more than a minute.

Brrrrt... Brrrrt... Brrrt...

The phone vibrated on the table again.

She bit back a curse word. Why couldn’t they call another vet assistant? She picked up the phone and turned it over so she could see the screen. It wasn’t someone looking for veterinary help.

She couldn’t resist the smile that crept onto her face. Grant. Her favorite uncle. More like her favorite shifter. Except she didn’t like shifters. At all. Well, her stepdad and Grant were the only shifters she liked. The only ones she knew, too.

Who could blame her for hating shifters, though? Enemy shifters had killed her mother, leaving Astra to be raised by Doc.

She tapped on the screen to answer it. Hi, Grant. Chelsea didn’t get bonked on the head again, did she? Astra liked Grant’s woman, Chelsea. Had liked her since the moment she’d met her, a little over a month ago.

No. The smile on Grant’s face could be heard in his voice. But I was hoping to get Doc to pay us a visit. Not an emergency, but... his services are needed.

Astra squealed out loud. Then she clamped her hand over her mouth. She hadn’t planned to lose control that way. Doc was a doctor. A people doctor, not an aspiring animal doctor like Astra. Could this mean—?

Chelsea’s not pregnant, is she? Excitement was hard to hide when it came to Grant and Chelsea having a baby.

Grant laughed, the sound welcome in Astra’s tired ear. Hey, now! We’re not rushing that part. Still planning the wedding.

Astra laughed too. She knew that. In fact, she was going to be in the wedding. Chelsea had asked her to be the maid of honor. Mae was supposed to be matron of honor. Astra hadn’t heard what they were going to wear yet, but she hoped it wasn’t one of those god-awful colors that bridesmaids’ dresses seemed to always be.

Well, Doc’s out of town. Did he not answer his cell?

Grant was silent on the other end. That set alarms off for Chelsea. She wasn’t sure what kind of alarms, because he didn’t seem panicked or anything like that, but still, his silence spoke volumes. Maybe I’m overreacting.

I was just going to sit down to dinner. She didn’t mention the movie part, because she didn’t want Grant to feel guilty if he had to pull her away from it. I’ll put it aside and eat later.

She heard Grant saying something. It was muffled, though, as if he’d put his hand over the mic. Then she heard Chelsea’s voice in the background.

Hey, Astra? Chelsea. Clearly Chelsea had either taken the phone from Grant or he’d handed it to her. Why don’t you bring whatever you cooked over and we’ll do a potluck thing? Mae’s here, too.

Now the signals were really going off in Astra’s head. What was Mae doing there? Why did they need medical attention? And why had Grant hesitated when she’d asked him if he’d called Doc?

Chapter Two

Kane Ortiz glanced from Grant to Chelsea, back to Grant, and finally to Mae. What am I missing? Who’s Astra?

She’s Doc Evans’ daughter—stepdaughter, Mae corrected herself.

Doc’s out of town. Astra’s coming over. She can check you out.

I’m fine. I’ve mostly healed. Kane frowned at the three of them. There was an undertow he didn’t understand. He appreciated Mae’s overprotectiveness, but he wasn’t a child.

Jeez. He was full-grown. More than a century and a half old, for fuck’s sake. He ran a hand over his stubble. The several days of growth was itchy.

Grant frowned back at him, a look of concern underlying the frown. A shifter bite, certain shifter bites—those are altogether different from a regular wound. They can create issues. Just let her check.

Kane nodded.

Grant had said that Kane could stay in one of his cabins, and Kane could acquiesce to a little examination in exchange for that. Especially since Kane had to stay off the grid and lie low.

He felt guilty not telling Mae everything, but he pushed the guilt away. Sometimes knowledge could prove dangerous to others. It was best he just mind his own business, stay off the radar, let things settle, and then move on. He was a nomad anyway, with no interest in putting roots down. In spite of his nomadic ways, though, he didn’t want to bring trouble to these nice people who would give him a place to stay, if only for a while.

He inhaled deeply and his stomach roiled from hunger. The dinner they’d put together was tempting. He’d hardly eaten anything in three days, traveling only at night, wearing scent block so he couldn’t be scented, always in bear form so he could hear and sense other shifters.

Kane cleared his throat to drown out the sound